FAU to face off with Tre Mason, Auburn's vaunted rushing attack

Auburn didn't win a game in the SEC last season, but heading into Saturday's game at Jordan-Hare Stadium against FAU, there's plenty of prognostication around the Yellowhammer State that the annual regular-season-ending Iron Bowl between the Tigers and arch-rival Alabama could be a late-November National Championship Game.

The Tigers have four games, including Saturday's, to play before that always-anticipated contest, but it's not too early to say that Auburn's dramatic turnaround — one that has put them at No. 11 in the BCS Standings — is worthy of conversation.

The formula that's led the Tigers' resurgence was always in place — Auburn carries the tag "Running Back U" for a reason — and first-year coach Gus Malzahn has re-established Auburn's ground-game identity. The Tigers lead the SEC in rushing yards per game (300.1) and yards per carry (6.3) so far this season.

FAU, 23-point underdogs heading according to Las Vegas bookmakers, know the favorites will run the ball frequently Saturday, and that's problematic for a defense that has allowed opponents to gain 4.76 yards per carry so far this season, 96th in the nation.

FAU plans on combating Auburn's read-option runs by jamming the line of scrimmage, which should plug holes on between-the-tackle runs but could present Auburn's backfield speedsters an opportunity to make big plays in the open field.

"We're going to have to make quite a few one-on-one tackles," FAU defensive coordinator Pete Rekstis said.

"It's not just to [the defensive backs], not just the secondary, but the linebackers and the defensive ends too, when they have an opportunity. … People who have done that have played well and fared fairly well against them on defense, but people who haven't, they're very capable of exploding and having explosion plays and it will be a long night."

The last player FAU wants to see running off-tackle with the ball is Park Vista alum Tre Mason, who has followed up a strong 1,000-yard rushing year with 693 yards in seven games this season.

Mason has the speed to catch a squirrel with his bare hands — literally, he tweeted about this rodent-catching exploits this summer — and he's added muscle to a frame that was besmirched as "too small for the SEC" when he committed to Auburn in 2011.

"He's strong, he's fast," FAU coach Carl Pelini said of Mason.

"They've got them all over the place, though. They've got a lot of team speed, and the difference is we'll face speed in our league, but I think with those SEC teams you see these speed guys that are also powerful guys. So you've just got to bring it. They're going to be physical — they always have been at Auburn. You've got to be physical back."

Mason works behind one of the nation's most surprising, but nonetheless elite offensive lines, and next to the SEC's reigning Player of the Week, quarterback Nick Marshall, who, like FAU quarterback Jaquez Johnson, is thriving halfway though his first season as a starter in a read-option offense.

Marshall has averaged exactly 300 yards of total offense in his last four SEC games, giving no indication to defenses if he'll gain his yards on the ground or through the air.

Pelini said that going up against FAU's read-option offense in practice has helped the FAU defense prepare, but he's not sure if the Owls can fully simulate the experience.

"They are getting better every week, [they're] balanced — run-pass — hurt you both ways. Defensively, fast and very athletic and keep getting better. [It's a] big challenge. [They] are the best team we have faced this year."